* * *

The day went by slowly for Bitter, but when she was told that the girls had once again delayed the beating, she lightened up, even poking fun with Cali at various people in the crowd. Her love for pick pocketing, or lack there of, didn't pick up at any time, her despising every second she was forced to steal. Cali pushed her to do well and Bitter could not turn down the girl's look of pleading as she begged her to pick pockets after pockets, not letting her laze about like she had the days prior.

Bitter felt worn once they were done and back in the awful old building that she to live in again. Her past was not the best and she would have preferred not to repeat it so soon in her life. Cali and she pushed off to bed early, hoping to get more sleep than the previous nights when they were awoken by the screams coming from down the hall night after night.

Bitter dreamed peacefully, and smiled herself awake as Cali tapped her lightly on the shoulder, "Sleep well my dear?" she asked with a laugh as Bitter rubbed her eyes sleepily.

She nodded and fell sleepily out of bed, the fall not helping her ribs in the least. She laid on the floor, holding her side and cursing up a storm as pain streamed through her body. Cali sighed, looking at her concerned, "Get back up on the bed an' lemme see those ribs," she said, grabbing her arm and helping her back up onto the bed.

Cali examined them thoroughly and looked at Bitter with a knowing look. "I gotta set them again, an' its gonna hoit, a lot," she said, pushing Bitter back down on the bed when she tried to get up.

"Ya want them bettah don'tcha?" Cali asked.

Bitter glared at her, "Fine!"

Cali nodded and ran outside the room, hollering for Gloves and coming back with the boy, explaining what she had to do to Bitter and how he needed to hold her down as she did it. Bitter sighed heavily, causing her ribs to ache more and nodded along with Cali. "Airight, let's get dis ovah wit already," she whined, frowning at Gloves who grabbed her arms and pinned them up by her head.

She winced as Cali brushed her hand over Bitter's ribs, placing them one at a time, precisely on the first try. Bitter yelped with each one, pushing against Gloves arms as she tried to wrench free of him.

"Damn dat hoits," she cried as Cali placed the last rib. Gloves only released his grip when Cali had taped her up, both of them ignoring her cursing. "I hate you both," she said, crossing her arms when they finally finished with her.

Cali rolled her eyes, "You'll love me latah, now, no lifting anything heavy, pushing anything heavy or nuttin for a week, ya heah?" she said sternly, shaking her finger at her comically.

"Yeah, yeah," Bitter muttered, getting up from her bed and shoeing Gloves out so she could dress. She stumbled out of the room when she was done, her face pale with pain. Gloves watched her concerned and whispered to Cali, "Make suah she takes it easy taday."

Cali nodded and led her outside, making sure to walk slow. Each step seemed to be painful for Bitter as her usually pleasant face was scrunched up in pain the whole day.

Bitter had an awful time working, not to mention that her ribs were giving her more trouble than she had expected they would, making it almost impossible for her to concentrate. She did fine, but Cali still made her sit down for most of the day, obviously her worry overcoming any fear of not pulling in a profit for the day.

After pickpocketing for a few hours, Cali took Bitter out to lunch at a small café, which she enjoyed much, the warm food helping to settle her nerves and forget about her ribs for a few minutes.

It became dark quicker than Bitter would have liked, but Cali insisted they not be late getting back, or they would have an angry leader on their hands. They made it back in no time, to Bitter's extreme displeasure and spent the night not sleeping as the usual horrid cries filled the warehouse. This routine went on for a week and the nights seemed to come too soon for the poor girls.

Bitter had saved up her strength and one night found the noises louder than usual. She could not stand it anymore and grabbed the desk in front of the door, barely able to push it over enough for her to squeeze through. She cringed as her ribs gave her trouble, but the desk was soon moved over enough and she easily slipped out without a problem, having become quite malnourished while she was there. She tiptoed down the hall, hoping only to comfort the girl once Vladimir was done with her.

She sat down next to the door and waited, cringing with each sound. It was a good hour before the noises stopped and Bitter stood up, filled with anticipation. Vladimir exited the room unexpectantly and upon seeing the frightened girl, he grabbed her wrists and shoved her up against the wall. "What are ya doin' out here?" he growled lowly, his nostrils flaring with delight at her pain-lit face.

"I, uh, was getting a drink," Bitter said, her words stumbling out of her mouth in a nervous mess.

"A drink?" he snarled, glaring at the girl who appeared from the room and paused to bark at her to go away. Bitter was relieved for only a moment and then he turned back to her.

"Mel, you shouldn't lie to me like that," he stated, his eyes narrowing quickly. She shook her head vigorously, but nothing would change Vlad's mind as he pulled her easily into his room, her body still weak from the last time he had hurt her. He slammed the door shut and pushed her roughly to the ground, shaking his head as he circled her like a vulture.

Bitter laid there shaking, praying that he would leave her alone. Her wishes were all in vain, for Vlad made sure to thoroughly hurt her, making everything he did to her long and painful. The night was horrible for the poor girl, daylight never seeming to come. He tortured her in as many ways as he could think of, making sure not to hurt her bad enough to knock her unconscious. Her insides went into a quaking frenzy every time he touched her and she could do nothing about her shivering body as he screamed at her to stop over and over again.

* * *

"What do you mean he jist uped an' left?" BC Tate hollered at the tall newsie in front of her.

"ButtahCup, he's discouraged, he'll be back tomorrow," Blue said, throwing his hands up and walking out of the bunkroom.

"Wheah did he go?" she yelled after him, stomping to catch up to him.

Blue turned around, his eyes narrowing at the persistant girl. "Manhattan, an' you know de rules, if ya gonna go aftah him, take someone wit you, a guy preferrably," he said, not really caring if she went or stayed, just wanting a break from all the chaos of the past few weeks.

BC Tate growled and ran off to the girls' bunkroom, grabbing Winter's arm and dragging her out of the lodging house before she could even ask where they were going.

"Jesus BC, what's gotten inta ya? Wheah de hell are we goin' dis late at night? Spot's gonna kill us if he finds out," Winter said, frustrated at BC's blank look and silent answers.

"Jist tell me wheah's we goin," Winter exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the street and crossing her arms.

"Manhattan, ta find Spot an' beat some sense inta him," BC said quietly, grabbing her arm and quickening their pace.

"What? Are you crazy? We'se gonna get a fuckin' whoopin' from dat boy if he sees us," Winter exclaimed, trying to get an answer out of BC Tate, but it was no use. She gave up talking and the rest of the walk to Manhattan was silent.

When they got there, the lodging house was lifeless, it being the dead of the night. The two girls crept into the building carefully, but not unnoticed. "Well, well, what 'ave we got heah?" Jack said, stepping out of the shadows and turning on a light.

"Jesus Jack, trying ta scare de shit outta us two poor goils?" BC said, smirking as she saw his face light up, thinking he had caught criminals, not two poor newsgirls.

Jack smirked, "Well what brings you two lovely ladies ta our humble lodgin' house," he asked.

Winter sat down on the nearest chair, swinging her legs over the arm rest. "Well Jack, any one can see dat if you'se de newsies' leadah heah, den it'll nevah be humble," she said with a laugh.

Jack cracked a smirk, "I'll take dat as a compliment, so why de hell are you heah at dis hour?" he asked.

BC scoffed, "It ain't dat late Jack, an' we'se lookin' for our humble leader Spot," she said, stressing the word humble.

Jack smirked, "Ah, I see, well, ta tell ya de truth, I haven't seen him," he said, honest for once in his life.

"What?" BC exclaimed. She looked at Winter who just shrugged, not knowing what to say. She had not believed that Spot would be in Manhattan in the first place, but did not want to tell BC that.

Jack shrugged, "Well you girls might as well make yerselves comfy, cause ya ain't leavin' tonight. I'll set ya up wit some bunks fer de night," he said, motioning for them to follow him up the stairs.

The girls looked at each other and dashed out the door before Jack could catch them. He shook his head, "Damn Brooklyn goils," he muttered, watching them run out into the night.

The two girls looked all night, but couldn't find Spot anywhere. They ended up back at their own lodging house and collapsed on the first chairs they could find.

BC woke to someone tapping her on the shoulder and Spot's tired face appeared in front of her. "Lookin' fer me?" he asked.

* * *

The sun felt merciful and rose to the window as the dawn cracked before the world, but only the loud noises of people sleepily walking through the halls made Vlad stop for a moment. He glared easily at her, like she was the one who did wrong, not him and kicked her hard in the side, Bitter too beat to express her hurt.

"Get up!" he hollered, Bitter thankful that she could still hear him after what he put her through.

She got up on his command, grabbing her clothes and throwing them on, trying not to hurt herself more in the process, ignoring all pain that was coming from her body. Vlad shoved her out the door, making her fall once again to the ground, unable to get up. He kicked her, yelling for her to get up, not caring if he made a scene or not.

Bitter looked helplessly up at Cali and Gloves who were standing by, urging her with their eyes to get up. With their earnest care, she made it to her feet and unsteadily began to walk. Vlad tripped her intentionally and laughed as she fell easily to the ground, leaving after kicking her once more in the ribs.

Gloves picked her up from under the arms and helped her to Cali's room, where Cali fixed her up best she could in the few minutes they had left. Bitter would not answer any of their questions and did not respond to anything they said. All her movements were mechanical and the only thing that showed emotion were her green eyes. She barely made it out of the building without Cali's help and Gloves had to hold his girl back from jumping to help her as she almost fell various times.

Mimic was waiting for them, her body resting against the building, invisible to the trio. Her easy stare turned easily into anger as she saw Bitter. "Dat's de last straw," she muttered, slipping into the shadows of the alley, before anyone could catch sight of her.

* * *